Special Call-out - Shaping Our City

The ways that we live, work, and gather in a city all depend on the way it was designed. Often, the failure to address community needs occurs well before shovels hit the ground: zoning, shared vs private spaces, public services, and more. At SHIFT, we fund a number of organizations working towards shaping Montreal, through reclaiming ownership of the land, building community power, and advocating for changes to urban systems. 

To reflect this interest area, this edition of the SHIFT Journal invites submissions in all formats (creative/poetic, academic/research, opinion) addressing the following questions. 

• What could a more community-based form of city planning look like?   
• Where have we failed or succeeded in planning urban spaces that are equitable and community-centered? What does equitable urban space even mean?  
• What does it look like to mobilize against/for the way a city is designed? 

All submissions must be focused on the Greater Montreal area, and be from 750-2500 words. As always, we are giving priority to Concordians and SHIFT partners or collaborators. You are welcome to submit original work, or work that has been published elsewhere or written for a class. We accept submissions in French and English. 

Deadline for submission: October 27th at 9:00am (but welcome to submit ASAP) 

We are planning to publish this edition in mid-November. 

If you’d like to talk about your idea or get support with writing, reach out to Journal co-coordinators Richenda at richenda.grazette@concordia.ca or Christian at christian.favreau@concordia.ca